Picturesque Fire at the Ridge Lights Up Powder Ridge

Fire at the Ridge is the new restaurant at Powder Ridge Ski Area in Middlefield, with celebrated Connecticut chef Kevin Cottle at the helm. With two seating options, guests enjoy classic pub fare in its Ridgeside Tavern and a fancier menu in its official dining room. Read story here.

Dine slopeside at Middlefield's new Fire at the Ridge, and choose between a tavern or more fine-dining menu

Between warm temperatures and unpredictable conditions, it hasn't been a banner winter for skiers and snowboarders. But that hasn't stopped Fire at the Ridge, the new restaurant and lodge at Middlefield's Powder Ridge Mountain Park and Resort.

After several years in development, the picturesque restaurant opened in January, a spacious, light-filled structure of blond wood, glass and vaulted ceilings overlooking the slopes. With two seating options, guests enjoy classic pub fare in its Ridgeside Tavern and a fancier menu in its official dining room. But executive chef Kevin Cottle is quick to say that he doesn't consider it "fine dining" in the traditional sense.

Mark Mirko / mmirko@courant.com

The Ridgeside Burger served at the more casual Ridgeside Tavern is made with an angus burger, house-cured bacon, garlic aioli and local cheddar cheese, with a brioche bun.

The Ridgeside Burger served at the more casual Ridgeside Tavern is made with an angus burger, house-cured bacon, garlic aioli and local cheddar cheese, with a brioche bun.

(Mark Mirko / mmirko@courant.com)

"It's upscale cuisine in a comfortable setting," he said. "I want you to feel comfortable. There's no white tablecloths. … I want everyone to feel relaxed."

Cottle's name is familiar to those who've followed Connecticut's dining scene over the past decade. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he was the executive chef at the Country Club of Farmington when he was chosen to appear on the sixth season of Fox's "Hell's Kitchen" in 2009 — and finished as the runner-up. After Powder Ridge owner Sean Hayes purchased the property in October 2012, Cottle signed on to oversee the resort's food and beverage offerings, which also includes its cafeteria-style Marketplace facility and a beer and wine garden.

Fire at the Ridge opened Jan. 15, but ran into a roadblock just days later when Middlefield's building inspector denied a necessary temporary certificate of occupancy because of its incomplete fire suppression system, though the state building inspector had approved a modification that would allow the restaurant to operate with a fire watch. The restaurant remained closed for nearly a week.

The new restaurants at Middlefield's Powder Ridge Mountain Resort and Park cater to an après-ski crowd, as well as diners looking for a special-occasion evening. Fire at the Ridge boasts what executive chef Kevin Cottle calls "upscale cuisine in a comfortable setting," with an emphasis on seafood,...

The new restaurants at Middlefield's Powder Ridge Mountain Resort and Park cater to an après-ski crowd, as well as diners looking for a special-occasion evening. Fire at the Ridge boasts what executive chef Kevin Cottle calls "upscale cuisine in a comfortable setting," with an emphasis on seafood,...

(LEEANNE GRIFFIN)

The chef's extensive experience — and love of seafood, stemming from his upbringing in Plymouth, Mass. — are evident in Fire at the Ridge's dinner menu. Oysters of Massachusetts origin are topped with cranberry granita, crab cakes are spiced with Thai flavors and ginger seafood foam, and a dish of monkfish is cured with sake and miso and livened with coconut curry and lemon grass nage.

"People look at it and say 'Whoa, you've got a lot of stuff going on there,'" he said. "And I say, 'Just try it. It all works.' They'll say, 'I didn't think these flavors would work, and I'm pleasantly surprised.'" Guests can also take a tour of the menu with a $70 five-course tasting experience, with beverage pairing for another $45.

Menus will rotate with the seasons, Cottle said, with an emphasis on fresh and sustainable ingredients. He works closely with Starlight Gardens of Durham, among other local suppliers.

Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant

The cherry turnover is made with house made vanilla bean ice cream and sous vide vanilla and pineapple.

The cherry turnover is made with house made vanilla bean ice cream and sous vide vanilla and pineapple.

(Mark Mirko / Hartford Courant)

In the cozy Ridgeside Tavern, the crowd has "taken on a life of its own," Cottle said, where locals have quickly become regulars and gravitate to a rotating selection of craft beers, many from Connecticut. The menu features smaller tavern plates like clam chowder, house-smoked wings, poutine and skillet mussels, and main dishes like heritage chicken pot pie (with meat from GourmAvian Farms in Bolton), steak frites and linguine and clams, priced at $8 to $29. The Ridgeside burger ($14) with Angus beef is draped with slices of house-cured bacon, aioli and melted cheddar and served on a brioche bun with a basket of Parmesan-black pepper fries. On Wednesday nights, burgers are half-price.

"We've seen a lot of the same faces, multiple times every week," said general manager Duncan Ferguson. "It's really kind of becoming its own community in there. ... It's really nice to see that grow."

Once the ski season wraps later this month, Powder Ridge's 225 acres will become a destination for warmer-weather activities, with mountain biking, a food truck festival, a barbecue cook-off and other outdoor events and adventures planned for 2016.

"We'll work on doing some unique things," Cottle said.

Fire at the Ridge and Ridgeside Tavern, 99 Powder Hill Road, Middlefield, are open Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. 860-852-5444 and fireattheridge.com.

Mark Mirko / mmirko@courant.com

Fire at the Ridge is the new restaurant at Powder Ridge Ski Area in Middlefield, with celebrated Connecticut chef Kevin Cottle at the helm.

Fire at the Ridge is the new restaurant at Powder Ridge Ski Area in Middlefield, with celebrated Connecticut chef Kevin Cottle at the helm. (Mark Mirko / mmirko@courant.com)